SEATTLE - At the halfway point of the Pac-12 race, the third-ranked Husky volleyball team sits atop the standings with a 9-1 mark, but five weeks still remain as teams make adjustments to try and reverse the prior results or complete the season sweeps. Coming off a great road trip in Los Angeles, the Huskies have their work cut out for them once again, as two of the year’s biggest surprises, Utah and Colorado, visit Alaska Airlines Arena.

Utah comes calling first on Friday night for a 7 p.m. match that will be streamed live on GoHuskies.com. On Sunday, Nov. 3,the Huskies will make history by retiring the jersey of former Honda Award winner Courtney Thompson (2003-06) in a halftime ceremony (a change of plans from original pre-match plan). Don't miss the first retired women’s jersey in the history of Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Sunday’s match will also be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.

With matching 6-4 conference records, the Utes and Buffaloes are tied for fourth in the Pac-12 race. Despite both being ranked just outside the AVCA top-25, Utah and Colorado are not being taken lightly by anyone in the league, as the Huskies can attest. Colorado handed UW its only loss of the season thus far in Boulder on Oct. 4. Utah, meanwhile, is currently ranked 17th nationally in the RPI, fourth among all Pac-12 teams. Both teams just completed weekend sweeps of the Arizona schools.

Last week the Dawgs captured road wins at UCLA and at No. 4 USC to complete their first weekend sweep in L.A. since the 2008 season. While the Huskies needed great efforts across the board to pick up the wins, sophomore middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon had perhaps the best weekend of her career, with 12 kills at UCLA and 15 kills at USC, hitting .431 for the week with 1.50 blocks per set. For her efforts, she was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, and then also named the AVCA Division I National Player of the Week, becoming just the sixth Husky to earn that distinction.